Independent Party now Oregon’s 3rd major party

Secretary of State Kate Brown announced Monday that the Independent Party of Oregon (IPO) has achieved major party status. The IPO met the threshold of at least 5% of the number of registered voters in the most recent General Election. As of Feb 2nd the IPO has 108,742 registered voters – clearing the Nov 2014 5% threshold of 108,739 voters by 3 voters.

As of November 2014, Democrats were 38% of Oregon registered voters, Republicans were 30%, and non-affiliated voters (NAV) were 24%. There were about 2.2 million registered Oregon voters.

The Statesman Journal reports that “Oregon has become the only state in the country with three major political parties.”

The Statesman Journal notes that this changes Oregon’s elections in two ways:

“First, it allows the Independent Party to participate in the May primary election, which is run by the state. Currently, the party runs its own elections during the summer. In the future, it will enjoy the same service from the state that Republican and Democratic parties do, with official ballots sent to members.

Second, it will require the Independent Party to nominate only its own members, rather than following its current system of nominating people who have also been nominated by the Republican or Democratic parties.”